Isaiah 41-42

Isaiah 41-42New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Israel Assured of God’s Help

41 Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;let the peoples renew their strength;let them approach, then let them speak;let us together draw near for judgment.

2 Who has roused a victor from the east,summoned him to his service?He delivers up nations to him,and tramples kings under foot;he makes them like dust with his sword,like driven stubble with his bow.3 He pursues them and passes on safely,scarcely touching the path with his feet.4 Who has performed and done this,calling the generations from the beginning?I, the Lord, am first,and will be with the last.5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid,the ends of the earth tremble;they have drawn near and come.6 Each one helps the other,saying to one another, “Take courage!”7 The artisan encourages the goldsmith,and the one who smooths with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil,saying of the soldering, “It is good”;and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved.8 But you, Israel, my servant,Jacob, whom I have chosen,the offspring of Abraham, my friend;9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth,and called from its farthest corners,saying to you, “You are my servant,I have chosen you and not cast you off”;10 do not fear, for I am with you,do not be afraid, for I am your God;I will strengthen you, I will help you,I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.

11 Yes, all who are incensed against youshall be ashamed and disgraced;those who strive against youshall be as nothing and shall perish.12 You shall seek those who contend with you,but you shall not find them;those who war against youshall be as nothing at all.13 For I, the Lord your God,hold your right hand;it is I who say to you, “Do not fear,I will help you.”

14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,you insect[a] Israel!I will help you, says the Lord;your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.15 Now, I will make of you a threshing sledge,sharp, new, and having teeth;you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,and you shall make the hills like chaff.16 You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away,and the tempest shall scatter them.Then you shall rejoice in the Lord;in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.

17 When the poor and needy seek water,and there is none,and their tongue is parched with thirst,I the Lord will answer them,I the God of Israel will not forsake them.18 I will open rivers on the bare heights,[b]and fountains in the midst of the valleys;I will make the wilderness a pool of water,and the dry land springs of water.19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar,the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;I will set in the desert the cypress,the plane and the pine together,20 so that all may see and know,all may consider and understand,that the hand of the Lord has done this,the Holy One of Israel has created it.

The Futility of Idols

21 Set forth your case, says the Lord;bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.22 Let them bring them, and tell uswhat is to happen.Tell us the former things, what they are,so that we may consider them,and that we may know their outcome;or declare to us the things to come.23 Tell us what is to come hereafter,that we may know that you are gods;do good, or do harm,that we may be afraid and terrified.24 You, indeed, are nothingand your work is nothing at all;whoever chooses you is an abomination.

25 I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,from the rising of the sun he was summoned by name.[c]He shall trample[d] on rulers as on mortar,as the potter treads clay.26 Who declared it from the beginning, so that we might know,and beforehand, so that we might say, “He is right”?There was no one who declared it, none who proclaimed,none who heard your words.27 I first have declared it to Zion,[e]and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings.28 But when I look there is no one;among these there is no counselorwho, when I ask, gives an answer.29 No, they are all a delusion;their works are nothing;their images are empty wind.

The Servant, a Light to the Nations

42 Here is my servant, whom I uphold,my chosen, in whom my soul delights;I have put my spirit upon him;he will bring forth justice to the nations.2 He will not cry or lift up his voice,or make it heard in the street;3 a bruised reed he will not break,and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;he will faithfully bring forth justice.4 He will not grow faint or be crusheduntil he has established justice in the earth;and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

5 Thus says God, the Lord,who created the heavens and stretched them out,who spread out the earth and what comes from it,who gives breath to the people upon itand spirit to those who walk in it:6 I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,I have taken you by the hand and kept you;I have given you as a covenant to the people,[f]a light to the nations,7 to open the eyes that are blind,to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,from the prison those who sit in darkness.8 I am the Lord, that is my name;my glory I give to no other,nor my praise to idols.9 See, the former things have come to pass,and new things I now declare;before they spring forth,I tell you of them.

A Hymn of Praise

10 Sing to the Lord a new song,his praise from the end of the earth!Let the sea roar[g] and all that fills it,the coastlands and their inhabitants.11 Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,the villages that Kedar inhabits;let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,let them shout from the tops of the mountains.12 Let them give glory to the Lord,and declare his praise in the coastlands.13 The Lord goes forth like a soldier,like a warrior he stirs up his fury;he cries out, he shouts aloud,he shows himself mighty against his foes.

14 For a long time I have held my peace,I have kept still and restrained myself;now I will cry out like a woman in labor,I will gasp and pant.15 I will lay waste mountains and hills,and dry up all their herbage;I will turn the rivers into islands,and dry up the pools.16 I will lead the blindby a road they do not know,by paths they have not knownI will guide them.I will turn the darkness before them into light,the rough places into level ground.These are the things I will do,and I will not forsake them.17 They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame—those who trust in carved images,who say to cast images,“You are our gods.”

18 Listen, you that are deaf;and you that are blind, look up and see!19 Who is blind but my servant,or deaf like my messenger whom I send?Who is blind like my dedicated one,or blind like the servant of the Lord?20 He sees many things, but does[h] not observe them;his ears are open, but he does not hear.

Israel’s Disobedience

21 The Lord was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness,to magnify his teaching and make it glorious.22 But this is a people robbed and plundered,all of them are trapped in holesand hidden in prisons;they have become a prey with no one to rescue,a spoil with no one to say, “Restore!”23 Who among you will give heed to this,who will attend and listen for the time to come?24 Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler,and Israel to the robbers?Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,in whose ways they would not walk,and whose law they would not obey?25 So he poured upon him the heat of his angerand the fury of war;it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.

Sirach 2:1-11

Sirach 2:1-11New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Duties toward God

2 My child, when you come to serve the Lord,prepare yourself for testing.[a]2 Set your heart right and be steadfast,and do not be impetuous in time of calamity.3 Cling to him and do not depart,so that your last days may be prosperous.4 Accept whatever befalls you,and in times of humiliation be patient.5 For gold is tested in the fire,and those found acceptable, in the furnace of humiliation.[b]6 Trust in him, and he will help you;make your ways straight, and hope in him.

7 You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy;do not stray, or else you may fall.8 You who fear the Lord, trust in him,and your reward will not be lost.9 You who fear the Lord, hope for good things,for lasting joy and mercy.[c]10 Consider the generations of old and see:has anyone trusted in the Lord and been disappointed?Or has anyone persevered in the fear of the Lord[d] and been forsaken?Or has anyone called upon him and been neglected?11 For the Lord is compassionate and merciful;he forgives sins and saves in time of distress.

Hebrews 2

Hebrews 2New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Warning to Pay Attention

2 Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him, 4 while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will.

Exaltation through Abasement

5 Now God[a] did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. 6 But someone has testified somewhere,

“What are human beings that you are mindful of them,[b]or mortals, that you care for them?[c]7 You have made them for a little while lower[d] than the angels;you have crowned them with glory and honor,[e]8 subjecting all things under their feet.”

Now in subjecting all things to them, God[f] left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, 9 but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower[g] than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God[h] he might taste death for everyone.

10 It was fitting that God,[i] for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father.[j] For this reason Jesus[k] is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,[l]12 saying,

“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,[m]in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

13 And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

“Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”

14 Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. 16 For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters[n] in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

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